Dangers
by thelittleturtleduck
Summary: With new technology and inventions, comes new dangers as well. When sitting in a meeting with the Council, Avatar Aang receives news of an unfortunate accident involving one of his children.


A/n: I was struck with inspiration while trying to think up a few ideas for the next chapter of "Distance". I just wanted to try my hand on the technological shift that the Avatar world has experienced in such a short period of time. I also just love writing Daddy Aang. I also have enjoyed writing pieces for Kya mostly because we know very little about her. It's fun writing for a character who just has a vague outline. Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or "The Legend of Korra."

* * *

Aang had been raised not to put too much focus on earthly possession. Unfortunately, the time he was currently living in, couldn't be more attached to said possessions.

In the past few years, Republic City had seen a huge boom as far as technology was concerned. The most recent invention being what one called,  
a Satomobile, designed by a young inventor by the name of Hiroshi.

The Avatar was particularly impressed with this new contraption, although you would never see him behind the wheel of one. He still preferred his glider and Appa for travel.

But as far as impression goes, there are always dangers when allowing something so new, grip society.

Such as how many recorded crashes there were because of this vehicle.

Many resulting in death.

"Maybe we should issue some new laws," Sokka sighed wearily as he was shown a few snapshots of a recent fatal Satomobile crash. The victims had ranged from the age of 30 to 4. All died.

Aang watched as the aging Water Tribe representative began to pass around the pictures to the others sitting at the table. Each nation in turn grimaced visibly at the sight.

"Sokka, what can you do in a situation like this?" Aang murmured as the pictures were passed to him. He retrieved them and returned to his standing position in the front of the room before the table. The Avatar's eyes widened as he took in the rather gory scenes from the crash.

"I have no idea," The man admitted tiredly, a tanned hand dragging down the side of his face as he sighed, "We just have to do something. We can't just allow this to continue to happen."

The Fire Nation representative spoke up at this, the man tugging thoughtfully at his beard, "Perhaps this is simply a situation that will improve with time. We have already gone to work to ensure safety zones for pedestrians to walk, we have installed signs indicating for them to stop, and we are now beginning to install lights that keep the traffic from flowing in different directions at the same time. It will just take some getting use to for these new drivers."

Aang had to agree with that. They had just began catching up with this new generation where these automobiles were quickly taking root , and they were doing everything they could. But the Avatar also had to agree with Sokka, the situation didn't seem to be getting better, only worse.

"Maybe," Aang cleared his throat, gaining the attention from the council who turned to listen to the man with the pale blue tattoos, "We should begin designating who is allowed to drive these vehicles. We should put them through tests to see if they understand the road laws and if they are capable of controlling a Satomobile."

The council raised their brows at this suggestion, perhaps that was a place to start. Sokka began to nod slowly at his brother-in-law's suggestion.

"That would certainly help."

The meeting continued on, many issues within the city needing to be addressed. Aang had taken a seat next to Sokka and tried his best to listen to everything the council was suggesting, but he was getting tired. He also knew Katara was going to be quite angry with him when he showed up late from work again. He had promised he would help her with dinner.

The meeting was about to end, the Earth Kingdom representative holding the gavel in her hand. All the members of the council looked increasingly relieved.

But the sweet sound of that gavel never came.

At that moment, the door was swung open rather urgently. A young messenger boy of only about 13, ran into the room breathing heavily.

"Avatar Aang?"

The man in question turned to the boy, standing from the chair in which he sat, "Yes?"

"You need to come quick!"

Though he was given no more details, the Avatar somehow knew from the pit of dread in his stomach, that he needed to obey the boy.

* * *

It had been a rather strange night for the daughter of the Avatar.

The moon was covered by the rolling storm clouds that lay on the painted black back sky above. Rain fell in sheets rather than in drops and even with her waterbending, the girl had trouble keeping her line of sight clear.

She had been out with friends. They had gone to a new club down from the Academy in which they attended school. Kya should have known it was a bad idea to do so, for the sky had been darkening even in the early daylight hours, but she had bailed on her friends so many times that she couldn't help but feel slightly pressured to go with them this time around.

Her heels clanked on the cool cement as Satomobiles sped by on her right. The continual passing of them brought a new onslaught of liquid, and the bottom of her light blue robes were quickly darkening from the moisture. She pulled her jacket around herself tightly and continued down the streets of Republic City.

She had thought about going towards the docks to catch a ferry home, but she knew they probably wouldn't be running during the storm. She kept her fingers crossed that her father would still be at City Hall so that he could give her a ride home on Appa, but she needed to hurry if she was going to catch him.

Quickly walking past a shop window, Kya was able to catch a rather frazzled glimpse of her reflection. She chuckled quietly under her breath at the frantic look in her cerulean eyes. Her hair hung from frizzy tendrils down the sides of her face. This was definitely not her night.

Rounding another corner, Kya bit her lip as it began to rain harder and the shopkeepers began to turn off the lights in their shops. The sixteen year old was becoming increasingly nervous as she quickened her pace. Her visibility was getting worse, and Republic City wasn't exactly the safest place to be walking alone on a night like this. The most bustling areas of the city were even completely dark that night save for a few lamp posts.

Nearing the edge of the sidewalk, the girl paused for a moment to look both ways before beginning to cross the street. She didn't detect anything so she began to carefully walk, trying her best to avoid the large pot holes in the road filled with murky water as she navigated herself to safety.

But before she could reach the other side, she was shocked to hear the sound of horn in close distance to herself. Turning to face up the street she barely had time to register the Satomobile speeding towards her, its wheels skidding on the water streaked gravel as the driver tried to stop.

Then there was a crash, and everything went black.

* * *

Kya's brain could only register pain. There was nothing else besides that. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, that was how intense her agony was.

As a few moments passed, she slowly regained a few of her senses. She could hear voices muddling together around her, their concern evident in the way they were forming their words. Words that Kya couldn't seem to put together at the moment.

She recognized a voice though.

She wanted to move, but the moment she tried, a pain shot through her and practically paralyzed her to a point where she was sure she was near death.

"Aunt Toph?" The girl was able to feebly ask as the pain began to recede slightly from her earlier attempts at moving. She wanted to open her eyes, but she was too tired to do so.

"I'm here, Baby Sugar Queen," The answer that usually sounded so sarcastic, actually reached Kya's ears as more of a reassurance rather than a snarky remark.

"I'm scared," Kya had always prided herself in being brave and fearless, just as her parents had been during the war against the Fire Lord. But in that moment, with her pain intensifying with each breath, the young girl couldn't help but whimper in fear.

"I know. But you're going to be alright. We are on our way to the hospital now."

When the Avatar reached the building, the smell of disinfectant nearly caused him to gag. His wife had always been a healer, but he had never been exactly keen to the array of balms and medicines she was called to use whenever a situation was in need of it. But Aang ignored the smell for the moment, rushing up to where the receptionist sat at her desk, amber eyes set widely as she took in the appearance of the very frazzled, very wet Avatar in front of her.

"My daughter was just brought here, her name's Kya. Please, can you tell me where I need to go?" His voice was frantic, his hands still shaking from the original announcement of his daughter's accident. He had just been talking about this with the Council, never had he imagined one of his children would become the victim of it.

"She was just taken into the Urgent Care unit."

The Avatar nodded at the woman, running down the length of the hall to where the unit was. His wife had helped enormously with the construction of the hospital, giving them ideas of where to put certain things and where the specialized healers should be stationed. Aang had been there nearly every step of the way, so he had the basic directions of the hospital memorized by heart. He knew where he was going.

Several healers passed him with curious looks, but he didn't even pause to share a glance with them. He needed to get to his daughter.

He ran down one last white, tiled hall and was met by double doors that had a sign hanging above them reading, "Urgent Care". Sighing slightly in relief, yet still fearful beyond belief, the Avatar quickly swung the doors open, stormy eyes searching his surroundings.

He was in the visitor's center of the unit, a reception desk set up on the far side of the room, with empty chairs in the lobby in front of it in order to allow family and friends of patients to sit. But the chairs were anything but empty tonight.

Several metalbending cops sat in the chairs beside witnesses, notepads in hand as they wrote down the details of the accident. Several of the people were shivering from the cold of the room, and the dampness of their various clothing items, yet they were patiently allowing the force to ask them questions about what they saw.

Aang spotted Toph standing over by the receptionist's desk, talking lowly to the woman who continued to receive papers every few seconds from passing healer's. The Avatar could only assume they were paper's documenting every injury his child had obtained.

"Come on over here, Aang."

For once in his life, the Avatar actually felt dread build within him at the sound of his name. Toph never called him Aang.

The tall man walked over to her as the room became noticeably silent. The occupants watched him as he made his way to the chief, all documenting his frazzled appearance. They knew the Avatar's daughter had been one of the victims in the accident, they just hadn't known how much of a number it would do on the man.

Toph stood beside the desk, an unreadable expression on her face, though Aang could sense her concern. She fiddled slightly with a dark strand of her hair at the side of her face as the woman handed her an ever growing manila folder filled with documentation of the accident's injuries.

Without even pausing, Toph handed the folder to Aang. The Avatar was hesitant to accept it, but he knew he needed to.

"I'm assuming Sokka took Appa to retrieve Katara and the children?"

The Avatar nodded absently, lips pursed as he opened the folder and began to look through the papers on the inside. There was a summary laying on top of what had happened, causing Aang's heart to constrict slightly as he read that his daughter was going in the direction of City Hall. She had been coming to get him.

He shifted through a few more papers, all regarding the driver and the model of the Satomobile in which he had been driving. He stopped dead in his tracks though when he read one word.

Deceased.

"Toph," Aang asked quietly, a bit in shock from the word, "The driver was killed?"

The police chief paused for a moment, sensing the rising of Aang's heart beat, "Yes. After he hit Kya, the Satomobile skidded to the right before colliding with a light post. The post fell on top of the car and the electrical current caused a fire in the already damaged vehicle. There was a small explosion. Thankfully, Kya was quite a good distance from that."

Aang cringed slightly despite the last bit of good news. Toph hadn't even bothered to use Kya's nickname either. You knew things were getting serious when Toph bypassed an opportunity to do so.

"My forces and I got there quickly," Toph continued, stamping a paper in which one of her cops passed on to her despite not being able to read it, "It wasn't until we reached the scene that we discovered it was Kya who was a part of the accident. An emergency vehicle was waiting when we arrived, so I rode with her on the way back to the hospital. There was very little the healers could do without the proper equipment. Kya woke up once."

Aang's heart clenched with fear, "Did she say anything?"

The woman nodded slowly, "She just said she was scared. Then she lost consciousness again. That's around the time we arrived at the hospital."

The Avatar grimaced at this, going to stand in front of the wall that lay bare beside them, sliding down it in uncharacteristic helplessness. The man lay the folder beside him on the floor and covered his face with his hands, "I'm a horrible father."

Toph scoffed slightly at her friend's dramatics, despite how serious the situation was, "Aang, there wasn't anything you could have done."

The man shook his head, causing the chief of police to sigh loudly. The Avatar had a wonderful talent of being able to find a way to blame himself for anything.

* * *

The occupants of the lobby looked up as a tanned woman burst through the double doors of the unit, blue robes swishing wildly behind her. The expression she wore was a mixture of concern and determination. Aang, who had long ago picked himself up off the floor, hurriedly walked over to his wife. Her face became visibly relieved as he came into view.

The two engulfed each other into the haven of their arms, neither ever wanting to let go. When it came to their children, the two parents always seemed to be thinking along the same wavelength. Aang could feel the worry radiating off of Katara, and he knew, in turn, that she could feel it coming off him as well.

Pulling away from him slightly, the waterbender's cerulean eyes looked disapprovingly up at her husband as she realized he had neglected to dry himself after his trip over to the hospital earlier that night. With a quick movement, the moisture in the fabric of Aang's clothes was drawn from the robes, and thrown into a waste basket at the side of the room. He gave her a sheepish smile before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and guiding her quickly over to the receptionist's desk where he left the folder.

"Here's everything you need to know."

His wife nodded and grabbed the documents, still silent in fear that if she spoke she would cry. She needed to be strong for her child. Without asking anyone's permission, the woman walked through the doors where only healer's were permitted, and closed them behind her with a resounding thud.

The Avatar sighed deeply, slightly more relieved now that he knew his wife would be helping heal their daughter.

A moment later, Sokka and the boys walked through the doors of the reception area. The older looking quite frazzled himself.

"Is everything okay?!"

Toph raised a brow in the direction of the man before she huffed a sigh, "Geez Sokka, yes everything is absolutely perfect. Your niece just got into a Satomobile accident and the only question you have is if she is okay?"

Sokka, now immune to Toph's strange way of dealing with tragedy, merely brushed off the caustic comment, walking over to his brother-in-law while trying to desperately wring the moisture from his jacket.

"I'm serious," The councilman looked at the Avatar, uncharacteristic worry obvious in his blue eyes, "Is she alright?"

Aang sighed heavily, placing a hand on the man's shoulder, "We are hoping so."

Bumi and Tenzin hesitantly walked over to the scene, the fourteen and eleven year old looking curiously up at their father, "What do you mean hoping? Is she not going to be okay?" The question escaped Tenzin before he could stop himself, the young bald child's light eyes showing signs of fear. Bumi's weren't very different.

The Avatar released his grip on Sokka's shoulder and in turn grabbed on to both of his son's, "She will be alright. We can't afford to think any differently."

* * *

Hours passed before they heard anything, agonizing hours to those who knew the girl. The sun was beginning to rise as Katara stepped from behind the doors of the unit, taking a deep, tired breath as she looked for her husband and sons.

Both Bumi and Tenzin had fallen asleep in the very uncomfortable looking chairs in the lobby area, the two snoring quietly as their uncle, who sat upright in his chair beside them with his eyes closed, snored loudly in response. Toph sat next to him, arms crossed, milky eyes also veiled by the skin of her lids as she too slumbered on. The metalbending cops had long since left and so had the spectators. The only person awake, save the receptionist at the desk, was her husband.

Aang sat in a chair at the center of the room, head bowed with his chin cupped in his hand. He gently pulled at the thin strands of his beard in order to keep himself focused on something other than the internal pain he was feeling. The lines on the sides of his eyes became more pronounced as his exhaustion grew. Though a sense of relief appeared on his face as he caught sight of his wife and stood quickly.

"Is she okay?"

The words that escaped him sounded so feeble, yet so hopeful that Katara couldn't help but give him a watery smile.

"Yes, sweetie. She is going to be fine."

The man sighed in relief, walking over to his wife and gathering her within his arms. By now the disinfectant smell had weeved its way into her hair, yet he couldn't stop himself from burying his face in it as he felt relieved tears prickle in the corners of his eyes. His wife in turn grasped the fabric of his robes tightly, the autumn colors of his mixing with her own dark blue ones as she embraced him back.

Lifting her chin, she kissed him sweetly. The man returned the kiss without hesitation, thankful he had a wife as amazing as Katara. He had read the list of Kya's injuries, yet he should have known that his wife would be able to take care of all of them.

When they broke the kiss, the waterbender reached up to cup her husband's face affectionately within her palm, tears still evident in her eyes, "Would you like to see her?"

The Avatar nodded, looking back once more at his companions before following his wife through the doors of the unit. Her tanned hand held tightly on to his as she walked him down the hall to one of the rooms labeled with a set of numbers. The only sound to be heard was the sound of their boots colliding with the cool floor of the hospital. Many of the healers had gone home, a new shift soon to show up. The quiet in the halls after such a hectic night, was a welcomed change.

The waterbender gently slid the door to the side, gesturing for her husband to enter. The man obliged and waited for his wife as she slid the door closed again. The room was bathed in an early morning glow, the white walls a soft shade of pink as the sun made its appearance behind the light curtains covering the window.

Kya lay in a bed in the center of the room, breathing slowly as she continued to sleep. Her arms were bandaged all the way up to her shoulders,  
and Aang knew from reading the accident report that the rest of her body must look the same. Instead of her usual blue robes, she now wore a white gown, the color contrasting lightly with her usually tanned skin. His heart clenched at the sight of how much paler she had become, but he could see a light blush covering her cheeks.

"She's going to be sore for a very long time," Katara murmured as she walked over to the left side of her daughter's bed, carefully sweeping away a few strands of hair from the girl's eyes, "But only a few of her scratches will actually scar. She has some broken bones too, and I did everything I could for those,  
but unfortunately those will take some time to heal."

The Avatar nodded as he slowly walked to stand on his daughter's right, hesitantly reaching a hand up to caress the slope of her cheek. A small bandage covered a slight cut that lay underneath her eye. Katara sighed.

"That's one of the cuts I wasn't able to completely heal. It had already set itself once the healer's and I began to work on it. Kya's going to hate that."

Aang shook his head, looking up with pride at his wife, "She knows you did everything you could."

The healer pursed her lips for a moment before nodding slowly, "I really did."

The Avatar looked back down at his daughter, a slight furrow forming between her brows while she slept, "We were just discussing what to do about the rise of accidents involving Satomobiles today. I never imagined one of our children would fall victim to it."

Katara circled around the bed to where he stood, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist as she laid her head on his back, right above where she knew his scar was located, "A parent never wants to think about that. It could have been so much worst, Aang. We got lucky. There is another set of parents last night woken up to the news that their son had died in that same crash."

Aang heaved a sigh, hanging his head lowly, "I know."

His wife soon excused herself to go retrieve breakfast from the cafeteria, also to grab some for Kya when she woke up as well. The waterbender expected the girl was going to have no appetite but it was crucial that she at least tried to eat.

The Avatar sat himself in the chair to the right of his daughter's bed, one pale, tattooed hand keeping its grasp on her thin, tanned fingers. He had noticed her breathing becoming slightly less relaxed and suspected she would awaken soon.

As if she had heard the thoughts of her father, Kya's cerulean eyes opened in that moment.

* * *

She hadn't been aware of much since she had talked with her honorary Aunt Toph. She could recall the warmth of healing hands as they frantically worked to heal the injuries plaguing her body. She heard words in conversations, but she couldn't put them together. She had felt an injection,  
and with it she had felt a slight relief in pain with a slight surge of utter exhaustion.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking back the harsh sunlight that pestered her lids. She was in a room with white walls, an unfamiliar bed caressing her back while a foreign robe hugged her body. A familiar hand though currently held on to her's.

"Daddy?"

She was shocked at how hoarse her voice was. The words sent a stinging up the length of her throat.

The Avatar looked up then, grey eyes filling with tears as he stood from his chair.

"Yes, Kya?" He answered her, shifting so that he could sit on the side of her bed, being careful not to sit anywhere near her bandaged legs that lay under the covers.

"What happened?"

Aang's brows furrowed in confusion, "You were in a Satomobile accident. A man hit you last night a few blocks down from City Hall."

Kya searched the confines of her mind before everything came back to her. The screech of tires, the cold of the rain, the shock upon impact,  
the agony after. She remembered it.

Trying to sit up in bed she began to babble frantically, "Oh no, oh no, oh no, I'm probably in so much trouble! Oh, I hope that man is okay! He was trying to stop, I could tell by the way the car was moving! Oh, no this is not good!"

The Avatar carefully placed his hands on her bandaged shoulders, making sure she didn't sit up and perhaps rip open one of her wounds on accident, "Shhh, baby girl. You need to calm down. You have had a rough night."

His daughter breathed heavily for a moment before relaxing back onto her pillow, closing her eyes tightly, "Please," Her voice was now desperate, caused her father's heart to break, "Please, tell me the man is alright."

Aang didn't answer in fear he would set off another round of incoherent babbling. He had known his daughter would be more concerned with the person who caused the accident than with herself, it was just in her nature.

Kya's cerulean eyes opened and searched for a reassuring grey pair, but all she was met with was stormy one's filled with remorse.

Before Aang could stop her, she pulled herself up into a sitting position Thankfully, her wounds had been healed expertly to a point where they didn't burst open from this movement, but Aang could see the action caused her great pain.

"This is all my fault," The young girl murmured repeatedly, burying her face within her hands as she began to sob quietly, "I thought I had looked both ways. Maybe if I had just been a bit more careful this wouldn't have happened, oh this is all my fault."

The Avatar shifted slightly so that he was more at the center of the bed, carefully gathering his daughter within his embrace as she cried freely into the shoulder of his robes.

"Kya," Aang soothed as he gently petted down the frizzy, dark hair at the back of her head, fingers tangling within its curls, "This is in no way your fault. It was an accident. He shouldn't have been driving so fast in such bad weather."

His daughter shook her head and buried her face deeper into his shoulder. The man sighed yet kept his hold on the girl, just glad that he wasn't the parent receiving the fatal end of the horrifying accident last night. Softly, he began to hum the tune to a song he had used to sing to her every night before bedtime when she was young. It was a song of secret tunnels and forbidden love, and soon it calmed Kya slightly.

His wife returned then, Bumi and Tenzin in tow. Katara's eyes widened slightly at the sight of her daughter sitting up, crying into the shoulder of her father.

"Boys," The waterbender whispered to her sons as they stood by the door of the room, not quite sure what to do, "Why don't you go and comfort your sister?  
She looks like she needs it."

Even Bumi didn't complain as both the boys walked over to the bed and sat on either side of it, Kya raised her gaze as she felt the mattress shift.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Katara murmured as she lay the breakfast tray on the side table, moving over to give her daughter a light kiss on the forehead, "I hope you are feeling better."

The teenager gave her a meek nod in return, wiping the tears from her face as she realized her brother's were there.

Both boys didn't say a word besides grasp one of Kya's hands in their own, looking at her with utmost relief. Noticing this, their sister carefully wrapped her arms around them, hugging them to her. The embrace was readily returned.

Aang moved to sit at the edge of the bed, Katara joining him as their children got into a conversation. Bumi was trying to distract his sister from the pain by telling her some story about how he had accidently stepped on a lemur's tail and then it had chased him down to the docks, causing him to jump into the water. Ever the mature one, Tenzin merely rolled his eyes at his brother's tale while his sister giggled quietly, pain still evident in her features, but a light still in her eyes.

Katara noticed the frown on Aang's face, "What's wrong?"

The Avatar sighed, "Kya blamed herself."

His wife's brows furrowed at this, "For what?"

Aang tilted his head back in the direction of their daughter, "The accident. She thinks she's the reason the boy is dead."

Katara looked back over to Kya, and though there was a returning sparkle in her eyes, she could also see a buried anguish that she could only guess would go away with time, "Well she is definitely your daughter."

The Avatar pursed his lips, rubbing a hand over the slope of his pale blue tattoo that lay on his head, "Times have just changed so much. I remember how I felt when that town accused me of a murder that was committed hundreds of years ago. I remember the guilt I had actually felt towards it."

Katara watched as her husband's features became solemn, his hand searching for the grasp of her'ss. Their fingers intertwined.

"Death is something that has become so prevalent today. There is no war, but I'm seeing that danger does not just disappear with that. The triads are growing in numbers and now with this technology boom, life is becoming less and less sacred. I always expected our children to grow up in different times than this," Katara was going to mention the fact that she preferred this over them growing up during the war, but she held her tongue. Her husband was right.

We all think of things as impossible. We think that danger will never touch us or the one's we love just because that kind of stuff doesn't happen to us. But in the blink of an eye, everything can change. No one is safe. As long as life continues on, so does the danger.


End file.
